Tropical Stout recipe check

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Comments welcome - I've never made a tropical impy stout before and I quite fancy one for Christmas. I'm thinking that I'll also soak cacao nibs, vanilla and coconut (and pineapple maybe?) in some spiced rum and throw that in for the last week of fermentation to boost the tropicalness...

Title: Tropical Imperial Stout

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Tropical Stout
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 21 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 26.3 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.066
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)
No Chill: 20 minute extended hop boil time

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.075
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 7.85%
IBU (tinseth): 38.34
SRM (morey): 36.83
Mash pH: 5.27

FERMENTABLES:
5 kg - Maris Otter Pale (73%)
0.5 kg - Flaked Oats (7.3%)
0.5 kg - Flaked Wheat (7.3%)
0.25 kg - Chocolate (3.6%)
0.2 kg - Crystal 15L (2.9%)
0.2 kg - Extra Dark Crystal 160L (2.9%)
0.1 kg - Black Patent (1.5%)
0.1 kg - Roasted Barley (1.5%)

HOPS:
10 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 16.52
25 g - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 18.14
25 g - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 20 min at 80 °C, IBU: 3.69

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Steeping, Temp: 66 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 30 L
 
Comments welcome - I've never made a tropical impy stout before and I quite fancy one for Christmas. I'm thinking that I'll also soak cacao nibs, vanilla and coconut (and pineapple maybe?) in some spiced rum and throw that in for the last week of fermentation to boost the tropicalness...

Title: Tropical Imperial Stout

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Tropical Stout
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 21 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 26.3 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.066
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)
No Chill: 20 minute extended hop boil time

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.075
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 7.85%
IBU (tinseth): 38.34
SRM (morey): 36.83
Mash pH: 5.27

FERMENTABLES:
5 kg - Maris Otter Pale (73%)
0.5 kg - Flaked Oats (7.3%)
0.5 kg - Flaked Wheat (7.3%)
0.25 kg - Chocolate (3.6%)
0.2 kg - Crystal 15L (2.9%)
0.2 kg - Extra Dark Crystal 160L (2.9%)
0.1 kg - Black Patent (1.5%)
0.1 kg - Roasted Barley (1.5%)

HOPS:
10 g - Magnum, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 16.52
25 g - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 18.14
25 g - Falconer's Flight, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 20 min at 80 °C, IBU: 3.69

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Steeping, Temp: 66 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 30 L
This is the one I recently made, I substituted the turbinado sugar for soft brown sugar, it is also important to keep the non fermentables as a late mash addition to avoid bitterness and astringency.

Tropical Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.071 FG = 1.016
IBU = 30 SRM = 56 ABV = 7.5%


I chose to balance this beer on the strong and sweet side of the style, so I’m shooting for an ABV of about 7.5%. The sweetness comes more from low bittering (30 IBUs) than from a high final gravity or the addition of lactose or any other sweetener.Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) Golden Promise pale ale malt
12 oz. (340 g) UK roasted barley
8 oz. (227 g) UK extra dark crystal (160 °L)
8 oz. (227 g) Carafa® Special III malt
4 oz. (113 g) UK chocolate malt
4 oz. (113 g) Belgian Special B malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) turbinado or other unrefined sugar (15 min.)
9 AAU UK Golding hops (60 min.)(1.5 oz./43 g at 6% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Two or three days before brew day, make a 2-qt. (2-L) yeast starter, aerating the wort thoroughly (preferably with oxygen) before pitching the yeast.

On brew day, prepare your ingredients; mill the grain, measure your hops, and prepare your water. This recipe uses reverse osmosis (RO) water. Add 1⁄4 tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons (19 L) of brewing water, or until water measures pH 5.5 at room temperature. Add 1 tsp. calcium chloride (CaCl2) to the mash.

On brew day, mash in the pale ale malt at 152 °F (67 °C) in 18 qts. (17 L) of water, and hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Raise the temperature by infusion or direct heating to 158 °F (70 °C) for 15 minutes. Finally, raise to 168 °F (76 °C)to mashout. Add the remaining malts, and recirculate for 20 minutes. Fly sparge with 168 °F (76 °C) water until 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort is collected.

Boil the wort for 90 minutes, adding the hops at times indicated in the recipe. The sugar is added directly to the boil with 15 minutes remaining. Chill to 59 °F (15 °C). Oxygenate the wort, then pitch the yeast starter. Ferment at 59 °F (15 °C) until fermentation is complete. Rack the beer and lager at 32 °F (0 °C) for 3 weeks. Prime and bottle condition, or keg and force carbonate to 2.5 volumes.
 
Interesting that your recipe uses lager yeast rather than ale yeast...

Was flicking through Greg Hughes earlier and noticed his tropical stout uses a pilsner lager yeast warm fermented - seems to imply that it is specified for the style by BJCP.
 
Maybe the thought is that it throws out some fruity esters or something..?

I'm thinking about using a fruity Kveik to boost the tropical flavours, maybe Sanders or Funky Pineapple from CML. I'll have think. I have plenty of CML5 but that seems quite neutral so I'll likely save that for something else.

Cheers!
 
It's a simple reason why they use lager yeast, the countries where tropical stouts are made, their main tipple is lager. I actually used Fermentis SO4.
Totally. Brewed in/for tropical countries.

I think Tropical is being taken too literally in this thread and erroneously applied to flavour. References to fruity, i feel, should be considered in relation to grain aromas and yeast esters rather than hop character. Not that you can't go in that direction.
 
Would this be anything like west Indies porter
I don't know of a West Indian porter, this is a Jamaican tropical stout recipe.

Desnoes & Geddes’ Dragon Stout clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.075 FG = 1.016
IBU = 35 SRM = 74 ABV = 7.5%

Ingredients


12 lbs. (5.4 kg) pale malt (6-row)
14 oz. (0.40 kg) crystal malt (75 °L)
0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) Simpsons debittered black malt
1.75 lbs. (0.79 kg) corn sugar
2.0 oz. (57 g) SINAMAR®
11 AAU Yakima Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.67 oz./19 g of 16% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2112 (California Lager) yeast

Step by Step

Mash grains at 153 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes. Boil wort for 120 minutes, adding hops with 60 minutes left in boil. Add sugar for final 15 minutes. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C). Condition at 58 °F (14 °C) for 2 weeks. Add SINAMAR® when kegging or bottling. (Use 0.75 cups corn sugar for priming.
 
Never heard of that one, but looking at some recipes, they are very similar, just not as strong as the tropical stouts. Which really was historically the difference between porter and stout, the stout being a stronger version of porter.
 
I think Tropical is being taken too literally in this thread and erroneously applied to flavour. References to fruity, i feel, should be considered in relation to grain aromas and yeast esters rather than hop character. Not that you can't go in that direction.

https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-tropical-stout/
I've been reading up on these a bit, and this one seems to suggest fruity hops too. Thinking about it, flavours of pineapple, chocolate, vanilla and coconut could be awesome in a stout... Pina Colada Porter... PCP... Hmm, I might be on to sommit :laugh8:

Anyway, I might be getting ahead of myself, I should just make a straight up stout as I haven't made one in ages.
 
Last edited:
https://beerandbrewing.com/make-your-best-tropical-stout/
I've been reading up on these a bit, and this one seems to suggest fruity hops too. Thinking about it, flavours of pineapple, chocolate, vanilla and coconut could be awesome in a stout... Pina Colada Porter... PCP... Hmm, I might be on to sommit :laugh8:

Anyway, I might be getting ahead of myself, I should just make a straight up stout as I haven't made one in ages.

The origins of these beers date back to a time when hops were largely varieties grown in the south east of England, or similar to. So I would say this is a modern interpretation of tropical rather than brewing something authentic. Both of which are equally valid in their own way.
 

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